Slatted floor, deck, or the like



Nov. 27,1923. I 1,475,765

= S. GAGE SLATTED FLOOR, DECK; OR THE LIKE Filed Qec. ,2 1920 ill-ll I T mi um. will? men/t0?" 17 Ag/M gawgww AM a Patented Nov. 27, 1923.

UNITED STATES PATENT. OFFICE.

SAMUEL GAGE, OF HOLLOWAY, LONDON, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR TO THE LONDON GEN- ERAL OMNIBUS COMPANY LIMITED, OF WESTMINSTER, ENGLAND. i

SLATTIED FLOOR, DECK, B THE LIKE.

Application filed December 27, 1920.

T 0 all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, SAMUEL GAGE, subject of the King of England, residing at Holloway, London, England, have invented certtain new and useful Improvements in Slatted Floors, Decks, or the like, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to that type of perinanent slatted floor, deck or the like in 19 which a series of slats lying side by side but spaced apart to leave a clear space between each adjacent pair are employed, and in.

which the slats are secured in position without any projection or obstruction being left above their upper tread surface so that they are of substantially the same height throughout their entire length, the necessary grip for the feet being afforded by the spaces between adjacent slats.

This invention is for improvements in or relating to slatted floors, decks or the like and has for one of its objects to provide a construction whereby comparatively few screw or similar holes need be made in the floor or deck, thus lessening the chances of it becoming leaky.

According to the primary feature of the present invention a floor, deck or the like having a slatted surface of the type above described is characterized. in that the slats are each secured only to two or more runners which latter are secured, at a few points only along their length, to the floor, deck or the like. Conveniently the runners take the form of thin metal strips which are received in recesses on the under faces of the slats which latter are of wood.

The invention is particularly applicable for use on the top deck of omnibuses. It

' is essential on these vehicles to provide a slatted foot-hold for the passengers and heretofore the wooden slats employed have each been individually screwed to the deck. This method of attachment offers many opportunities fer water to leak through the roof into the inside of the omnibus, since many screw holes will be made in the deck.

By adopting the present invention, however,

a mat consisting of say twenty slats can be satisfactorily permanently secured in place by only ten screws, or in some circumstances even less. Thus the chances of leakage are greatly reduced.

For a more complete understanding of the invention there will now be described,

Serial No. 433,096.

by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings, a slatted top deck for an omnibus. It is to be understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the precise constructional details set forth, nor to the application to an omnibus deck.

In these drawings Figure l is a perspective view of the top deck of an omnibus, parts being broken away for clearness;

Figure 2 is a plan, on a scale larger than that of Figure 1, of a portion of a slat mat, and

Figure 3 is an end elevation, on a scale larger than that of Figure 2, of a portion of a slat mat.

Like reference numerals indicate like parts throughout the drawings.

In Figure 1 there is shown the upper deck 10 of an omnibus, carrying seats 11 arranged in two rows, and being reached by a staircase 12. Between the rows of seats is a gangway having a long slat mat '13 which may be made in several sections if desired. In front of each seat 11 is a short slat mat 1 and at the top of the staircase are other mats 15, 20 and 21. In some cases it may also be found desirable to add here and there single individual slats secured independently to the deck.

The construction of the mats is illustrated. in detail in Figures 2 and 3. They comprise strips 16 of metal which constitute runners and which are intended to be secured to the deck at a few points only along their length. These runners must be of sufficiently rigid material to insure that they will lie snugly in place without the screws being closely placed. In the mat shown in Figure 2 each runner is intended to be secured to the deck at three points 17. The slats 18 are secured to the runners 16. Convcniently, there may be two screws securing each slat at each end to the runners, these screws being illustrated at 1.9 in Figure Each slat is preferably recessed on its under face to receive the runners and coin veniently these latter may take the form of galvanized hooping, quite thin in cross-section and which is adapted to be rolled, It will be understood that this material is quite rigid in comparison with such I able slat mats not intended to be secured permanently in place on a floor or deck. In most cases it will be sufiicient to have two runners to each mat, one towards each end of the slats.

Mats made according to the invention may, of course, be utilized in positions where weather-proofness is not a factor to be considered but where, for other reasons, it may be undesirable to make more holes in a floor than is absolutely necessary.

The invention, of course, is not limited to the precise details of construction and arrangement hereinbefore described since these may be modified in many respects without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. A slatted floor, deck or the like, com prising the combination with a supporting surface which must be maintained as free from perforations as possible, of a plurality of slats, a plurality of thin relatively broad metal strips, there being recesses on the under faces of the slats in which said metal strips of substantially the same cross section throughout their length are housed so that they lie below the upper tread surface of the slats, means for securing the slats immovably to the metal strips so as to lie' transversely thereof side by side but spaced to leave a clear space insuring a foothold between each adjacent pair of slats, and means for securing the metal strips at a few points only along their length to the supporting surface to prevent relative move nient between either the slats or the strips and said surface, the slats being secured directly to the metal strips only, and no part of the securing means for the metal strips projecting above the upper tread surface of the slats.

T he combination with a supporting surface which must be maintained as free from perforations as possible, of a tread comprising thin relatively wide metal strips of substantially the same crosssection throughout their lengths, and having a plurality of perforations therein, certain of said perforations being adapted to receive stud-like fastening means extending in one direction therethrough and the other of said perforations to receive stud-like fastening means extending in the opposite direction to secure the strips in position, and slats immovably secured in spaced parallelrelation to said strips by said first-mentioned fastening means, the number of said second-mentioned perforations being reduced by materially spacing the same lengthwise of the strips, there being recesses in the under faces of the slats in which strips are housed.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

SAMUEL GAGE. 

